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Luis Matos

Giants Place Brandon Crawford On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants announced that shortstop Brandon Crawford has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left forearm strain.  The placement is retroactive to August 19.  Outfielder Luis Matos was called up from Triple-A to take Crawford’s place on the active roster.

This is Crawford’s third IL stint of the season, as he missed roughly three weeks total due to a calf strain and left knee inflammation.  Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that Crawford’s forearm issue was impacting his swing, which explains why Crawford has only a single hit in his last 31 plate appearances.  The club’s initial plan was to give Crawford a couple of days off, but he’ll now get at least 10 days to recover.

In a little over 14 months, Crawford has now made five different trips to the injured list.  Recurring knee problems have led to the majority of those placements, and he was also briefly shut down during Spring Training this year due to more knee discomfort.  The injuries have short-circuited what looked like a late-career revival for Crawford, who finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2021 for delivering a huge performance in his age-34 season.

Crawford has hit only .194/.264/.318 over 270 plate appearances in 2023, and while his glovework has still been excellent, it surely isn’t the platform Crawford wanted for the final guaranteed year of his contract.  While Crawford was somewhat non-committal last winter about the possibility of playing beyond the 2023 season, a year of injuries and struggles at the plate isn’t how the longtime Giants shortstop would want to wrap up his outstanding 13-year career.  The severity of the forearm strain isn’t yet known, so it isn’t clear if Crawford could be in danger of missing the remainder of the 2023 campaign.

Casey Schitt was called up from Triple-A yesterday, and the Giants also recently selected the minor league deal of Johan Camargo.  These two players will likely handle shortstop duty while Crawford is out, and Thairo Estrada has also seen some time at the position this season.

Giants Select Johan Camargo

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The Giants announced they’ve selected the contract of infielder Johan Camargo. San Francisco also confirmed the selection of outfield prospect Wade Meckler and the designation of outfielder Luis González. Infielder Mark Mathias and rookie outfielder Luis Matos were optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in corresponding moves. To open a 40-man spot for Camargo, San Francisco transferred starter Anthony DeSclafani from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Camargo gets back to the big leagues for a seventh straight year. The switch-hitting infielder had spent the ’23 campaign in Triple-A, moving from the Royals to the Tigers and then San Francisco. He just signed a minor league pact with the Giants over the weekend, reaching the majors after two appearances with Sacramento.

Between the three organizations, Camargo owns a solid .260/.339/.466 batting line. He’s been limited to 39 Triple-A games by an early-season injury. The 29-year-old has a fairly established track record, though. He owns an impressive .302/.375/.501 slash in a little more than 1000 career Triple-A plate appearances.

Camargo has a .255/.313/.410 mark over his MLB career. A productive everyday third baseman for the Braves between 2017-18, he’s settled into a journeyman role over the last few years. Camargo has hit .219/.271/.348 through 559 plate appearances over the past four seasons. The bigger appeal lies in his flexibility defensively. The Panama native has over 300 MLB innings at each of second base, third base and shortstop. Public metrics have given him roughly average reviews up-the-middle and plus marks for his work at the hot corner.

DeSclafani recently suffered a flexor strain in his throwing arm. He won’t throw until late September at the earliest and seems likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area first reported Camargo’s impending promotion.

Big Hype Prospects: Westburg, Matos, Crawford, Whisenhunt, Anthony

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The Orioles are finally calling up one of their top hitting prospects, and it isn’t the one I expected to get the first call. Jordan Westburg will make his debut later today. I expected Colton Cowser to win the race to the Majors. With Cedric Mullins recently returning, Cowser is left to await another injury or Aaron Hicks’ inevitable collapse (good outcomes, deeply terrible EVs).

Five Big Hype Prospects

Jordan Westburg, 24, 2B/3B/SS, BAL (AAA)
301 PA, 18 HR, 6 SB, .295/.372/.567

There’s a disconnect between public perceptions of Westburg and scouting reports. The bat will play, though Westburg’s penchant to swing-and-miss could result in long slumps as reports identify exploitable weaknesses. His minor league exit velocities would rate as above average in the Majors. Additionally, Westburg seemingly mixes discipline and targeted aggression in a way that could help keep his strikeouts under control – it has thus far in the minors.

The trouble is his defense. He’s trained all over the infield. Some think he’ll eventually land in left field. We see these sorts of bat-first players all over the league. His flexibility enables the club to view him as a tenth man akin to Chris Taylor (to be clear, Taylor is a far superior fielder). When approaching roster construction, Westburg can be slotted into whatever spot needs filling or else rotate with the regulars to keep everyone fresh.

Luis Matos, 21, OF, SFG (MLB)
45 PA, 1 HR, 2 SB, .282/.378/.385

On the back of a mediocre AFL performance, it wasn’t guaranteed the Giants were going to roster Matos this year. He would have likely gone early in the Rule 5 draft if they hadn’t. Matos immediately rewarded San Francisco’s decision to protect him. Though discipline has long been a weakness, he has more walks than strikeouts through 45 plate appearances after hitting .398/.435/.685 in 116 Triple-A plate appearances. The 21-year-old has looked like a new hitter this year.

There are still worrying details under the surface. His 89.5-mph average and 107.5-mph max exit velocities suggest middling power. Given his age, he could easily grow into more power – several evaluators believe this will happen. It’s my expectation Matos will soon enter a slump due to poor quality of contact. However, I’m optimistic about the long-range picture. In addition to burgeoning hitting skills, Matos is a plus defensive center fielder.

Justin Crawford, 19, OF, PHI (A)
202 PA, 0 HR, 32 SB, .346/.395/.456

I was surprised to recently discover Crawford had crept onto Baseball America’s Top 100 list. That’s not meant as a knock against Crawford. There happens to be a large number of high-quality prospects around the league. Crawford is more projection than actuality at this stage of his development.

The 17th pick of the 2022 draft, Crawford was seen as the sort of toolsy, incomplete prospect the Phillies have historically loved – and struggled to develop. He’s performing decently in Low-A where his first-rate speed is on display. A .423 BABIP has allowed him to get away with too many swinging strikes for his current low-power profile. He’s expected to age into roughly average pop, so this problem could go away in a couple ways. Comparisons to his father, Carl Crawford, come naturally as they share quite a few traits. He’s reportedly comfortable making adjustments to his hitting mechanics which further increases the volatility of his prospectdom.

Carson Whisenhunt, 22, SP, SFG (AA)
(A/A+/AA) 49.2 IP, 12.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 2.90 ERA

Whisenhunt would rank higher among evaluators if not for off-field issues. As it is, he’s still in consideration for the back-end of Top 100 lists. The simplest issue to comment on publicly is his failed PED test in college. You’ll notice, it’s rare for college players to be caught for PEDs, and it’s not because they’re squeaky clean. For his part, Whisenhunt blames a tainted supplement. The skinny southpaw leads with a double-plus changeup and is only just reaching a level where hitters will have some capacity to cope with the pitch. His changeup is such that he won’t truly be tested until he reaches the Majors. The profile and build are reminiscent of Cole Hamels.

Roman Anthony, 19, OF, BOS (A+)
(A/A+) 251 PA, 5 HR, 12 SB, .236/.379/.382

Anyone statistically minded is going to like Anthony. A 19-year-old performing well in High-A is exciting stuff, particularly when said 19-year-old has a 171 wRC+ in 49 plate appearances. He was considerably more ordinary in Low-A, posting a 110 wRC+ in 202 plate appearances. A sweet-swinging lefty slugger, Anthony has considerable development ahead of him if he’s to continue this speedy race toward the Majors. The P-word gets thrown around. Against better competition, Anthony will find himself behind in the count all too often. Passivity isn’t a death knell. We saw Gunnar Henderson defeat it entering last season and again about a month ago. It’s a trait which has a way of echoing. But for the passivity, Anthony has all the traits of a starting corner outfielder.

FanGraphs gives Anthony a four-paragraph writeup that says more than I can in this space.

Three More

Edouard Julien, MIN (24): The star of the 2022 AFL, Julien is on the verge of losing his prospect “eligibility.” He’s batting .252/.336/.439 through 123 plate appearances. A 34.1 percent strikeout rate has held him back. He also has a 12.5 percent swinging strike rate – nearly double that of his Triple-A performance. Defensively limited, Julien appears in need of an adjustment or two. He has the tools to pull it off.

Jacob Misiorowski, MIL (21): It’s good to be unique as a pitcher. Misiorowski certainly checks the “unique” box. The 6’7’’ right-hander has the sort of funky arm action that makes it hard to identify balls and strikes. Misiorowski lacks a changeup, but we’ve seen plenty of starters succeed without one in recent years, especially those who can live up in the zone with hard heat. He currently has poor command.

Quinn Priester, PIT (22): Priester has been on the radar for a while, bouncing in and out of the Top 100 prospects. He’s a ground ball pitcher who manages around a strikeout per inning while limiting walks and piling up ground balls. Since his fastball isn’t particularly effective, he should be viewed as a potential back-of-the-rotation guy – the type who keeps his team in the game.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

Mitch Haniger To Undergo Forearm Surgery

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TODAY: The Giants announced that Haniger will undergo forearm surgery tomorrow, and a more specific timeline on his recovery will be provided on Friday.  Davis will miss the next 3-10 days with a Grade 1 ankle sprain, so while an IL stint will be necessary, the infielder looks to have avoided a more serious issue.

JUNE 13: Giants outfielder Mitch Haniger fractured his right forearm during tonight’s game against the Cardinals, the club informed reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com). Third baseman J.D. Davis was also diagnosed with a right ankle sprain.

Haniger was hit by a Jack Flaherty pitch on a check swing in the third inning. He immediately departed with Blake Sabol taking his spot in left field. Unfortunately, x-rays quickly revealed the fracture, which is sure to result in another lengthy stint on the injured list.

It’s horrible luck for the veteran outfielder. Haniger has had plenty of injury concerns over his career, including some fluke issues that have kept him out for extended runs. A 2019 testicular rupture sustained when he fouled a ball off himself ended up necessitating multiple core surgeries that cost him all of 2020. He returned for a full season in 2021 but missed a large chunk of last year with a high ankle sprain in his right leg.

The Giants rolled the dice on Haniger’s power upside despite his injury history. San Francisco inked him to a three-year, $43.5MM free agent guarantee with a post-2024 opt-out clause. The first season of the deal hasn’t gone as planned. Haniger opened the year on the IL after suffering a Spring Training oblique strain. He returned in late April but started slowly, hitting .230/.281/.372 over 160 trips to the plate with his new club.

Haniger is now headed back to the IL, leaving the Giants with a gap to plug in the outfield. While they could turn to Sabol or Austin Slater more frequently alongside Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski, it seems they’re considering bringing up one of their top prospects instead. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted (on Twitter), Luis Matos was pulled from tonight’s game with Triple-A Sacramento. The 21-year-old outfielder, who’s already on the Giants’ 40-man roster, is hitting .348/.415/.548 between the top two minor league levels.

Haniger’s injury isn’t the only concern from tonight’s game for San Francisco. Davis sprained his ankle while sliding into third base. He attempted to walk the injury off but moved rather gingerly and was taken out of the game. Casey Schmitt came in to replace him at the hot corner.

Davis has been one of San Francisco’s best hitters. The righty-swinging infielder is sitting on a .286/.369/.476 line with nine homers and a robust 10.9% walk rate through 245 plate appearances. If the injury sends him to the IL, Schmitt figures to take over third base. The rookie cooled offensively after a blistering start and owns a .276/.286/.405 slash over his first 32 MLB games. He’s walked just once in 119 plate appearances. Schmitt is making contact and regarded as a plus defensive third baseman, though, so he’d be a high-upside fill-in.

Giants Promote Luis Matos

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The Giants announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled outfielder Luis Matos and infielder David Villar from Triple-A Sacramento. They also formally placed outfielder Mitch Haniger on the 10-day injured list following last night’s forearm fracture and optioned righty Keaton Winn to Sacramento.

The 21-year-old Matos is being thrown right into the fire, starting in center field and batting second in his MLB debut against the Cardinals and lefty Jordan Montgomery. It’s a nice vote of confidence in the former top prospect, who has bounced back from a dismal 2022 season (.215/.280/.356, mostly in High-A) to post a massive .350/.415/.561 showing between Double-A and Triple-A. The right-handed-hitting Matos has decimated left-handed pitching in particular, batting .375/.474/.729 in 57 plate appearances.

Last year’s rough showing dinged Matos’ prospect standing a bit, as he dropped off various top-100 lists after entering the ’22 season as a consensus entrant on such rankings. Baseball America still ranked him fifth among Giants farmhands heading into the season, however, tabbing him as a potential everyday outfielder if he can iron out some of the inconsistency and passivity he showed while trying to refine his approach at the plate last year. At least thus far, Matos has done just that. He’s fanned just 20 times in 249 plate appearances (8%) and draw 24 walks (9.6%).

With Haniger facing an extended absence and Matos rapidly rebuilding his stock in the minors, the latter now looks like he’ll receive a legitimate audition for an everyday role with the team moving forward. Manager Gabe Kapler said today that Haniger might require surgery, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), though even in that scenario he’d have a chance at returning this year.

Still, it doesn’t sound as though Haniger will return to the lineup in particularly short order, so San Francisco’s front office and coaching staff will be able to use the opportunity to gauge Matos’ MLB readiness (or lack thereof). If he hits the ground running, they’ll boast a solid outfield trio of Matos, Mike Yastrzemski and Michael Conforto, with Blake Sabol, Austin Slater, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Joc Pederson also on hand as options. In the event of further injuries and/or struggles from Matos, it’s feasible that outfield help could be an area of focus for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi heading into this year’s trade deadline. The Giants are six games out in the National League West but are also currently in possession of the third Wild Card spot in the NL standings.

Future optional assignments can always change a player’s free-agent and arbitration trajectories. For now, however, if Matos sticks in the big leagues he’d be arbitration-eligible after the 2026 season and under club control all the way through the 2029 campaign.

Giants Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Giants announced a huge batch of roster moves prior to today’s Rule 5 protection deadline. One of them was the previously reported acquisition of infielder Brett Wisely from the Rays. He was selected to the club’s 40-man roster along with righties Tristan Beck, Jose Cruz and Keaton Winn, infielder Marco Luciano and outfielder Luis Matos. In corresponding moves, seven players were designated for assignment: righties Sam Delaplane and Drew Strotman, lefty Jarlin Garcia, catchers Dom Nunez and Meibrys Viloria, as well as infielders Jason Vosler and Colton Welker.

Beck, a 26-year-old righty, was drafted out of Stanford in the fourth round in 2018 by the Braves and was sent to San Francisco in the Mark Melancon deal at the following year’s trade deadline.  He made only 12 appearances in 2021 due to a herniated disc in his back.  Coupled with the lost 2020 season, he had a large period with minimal minor league work.  Beck spent most of the season starting at the Triple-A level, posting decent peripherals.  However, a .333 batting average on balls in play contributed to an unsightly 5.64 ERA for the Flying Squirrels.  If Beck can get off to a solid start back at Triple-A to begin the 2023 campaign, he stands a good chance of seeing time at the Major League level.

Cruz, 22, spent the season in Low A-ball, whiffing an impressive 42.6% of batters faced out of the San Jose Giants’ bullpen.  Last week, he was named a California League All-Star.  Baseball America named him the best reliever in his league, and also considered his changeup the best in the circuit.  Cruz closed out his season with 16 1/3 scoreless innings, and seems ready to take on High-A with the Eugene Emeralds next year.

Winn, a 24-year-old righty starter, pitched at three levels this year as he ascended from Low-A to Double A.  A former fifth round pick of the Giants in 2018, Winn had Tommy John surgery prior to the 2021 season.  It was a strong comeback season, and Winn reportedly picked up velocity post-TJ.  He was able to miss a lot of bats in A-ball and could find his way to the big leagues at some point in ’23.

Luciano, 21, continues to rate as the Giants’ top prospect despite missing two months this year due to a back injury.  He was rated as the 17th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading into the season, and around his injury managed a 121 wRC+ this year in High-A.  Luciano is not necessarily expected to stay at shortstop, but may wind up at third base and should be carried by his impressive power.  Luciano is making up for lost time playing in the Dominican Winter League and should open 2023 at Double-A.

Matos, a 20-year-old center fielder, rates as the Giants third prospect according to MLB.com.  Signed in the same international class as Luciano, Matos is a well-rounded player who excelled in Low-A last year, leading to a rating of 73rd in the game by Baseball America heading into the season.  However, Matos limped to a 73 wRC+ in High-A in 2022, so he picked up some extra at-bats in the Arizona Fall League.

As for the club’s seven DFAs, Delaplane is a 27-year-old righty reliever who was drafted by the Mariners in the 23rd round in 2017.  The Mariners booted him off their 40-man roster in May 2021 after he required Tommy John surgery.  At that point he was dealt to the Giants for cash considerations.  Delaplane dealt with a setback in his recovery this summer, and finds his way off the 40-man once again.  Back in 2019, Delaplane capped off his season by dominating Double-A hitters for 37 innings, posting a 36.6 K-BB%.

Strotman, a 26-year-old righty reliever, was a fourth round pick by the Rays back in 2017.  He went to the Twins in the 2021 trade deadline deal for Nelson Cruz.  Strotman was claimed off waivers by the Rangers in September of this year, and then by the Giants five days ago.  As MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote at that time, Strotman has struggled with walks and was no lock to survive the winter on the Giants’ 40-man.

The Giants claimed Viloria, a 25-year-old catcher, last Thursday from the Rangers along with Strotman.  As Adams wrote at the time, Viloria hasn’t hit much in parts of four big league seasons but he’s done better at Triple-A and is “touted as a plus defensive backstop, boasting a 34% caught-stealing rate between the big leagues and the minors, and drawing plus reviews for his framing.”

Nunez, 27, was drafted out of high school by the Rockies in the sixth round back in 2013.  Nunez got a decent chunk of playing time in 2021, but managed just a 68 wRC+.  Spending his entire season at Triple-A this year, he didn’t fare any better offensively.  The Giants picked him up via a waiver claim six days ago and are apparently aiming to pass him and Viloria through waivers and keep them around as catching depth.  They’re now back to just Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man, so an addition is likely this winter.

Garcia, 30 in January, joined the Giants via a February 2020 waiver claim from the Marlins.  Since then he’s worked 152 innings out of San Francisco’s bullpen with a fine 2.84 ERA, although his 15.5 K-BB% doesn’t catch the eye.  While Garcia generally exhibits solid control and was a fairly notable part of the club’s 2021 bullpen, he was entrusted with lower-leverage work out of this year’s pen.  With over five years of big league service, Garcia projected for a $2.4MM salary through arbitration.  Since Garcia was apparently unlikely to last through Friday’s non-tender deadline with the Giants, they decided to open up the 40-man spot today to give a spot to a prospect.

Welker, a 25-year-old corner infielder, was drafted in the fourth round by the Rockies back in 2016.  After giving him a brief big league taste last year, the Rockies let Welker go to the Giants in a July waiver claim this year.  Welker, who was suspended for 80 games in 2021 for PED use, was limited to ten games this year due to season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum.  After carrying him on their 40-man for part of that recovery process, the Giants have sacrificed his spot due to the Rule 5 deadline.

Vosler, a third baseman, was drafted in the 16th round by the Cubs back in 2014.  He was sent to the Padres for Rowan Wick in November 2018.  Two years ago he became a minor league free agent and the Giants inked him to a Major League deal.  Now 29, Vosler was productive at Triple-A in 2019 and ’21 but managed just an 82 wRC+ this year.  He bounced up and down with the Giants this year and did all he could, posting a fine 126 wRC+ in 111 scattered plate appearances that included a home run off Pablo Lopez in June.

After Evan Longoria, the Giants split third base time fairly evenly among Vosler, Wilmer Flores, and David Villar this year at over 200 innings apiece.  Flores and Villar remain with the Giants, who preferred Longoria’s $5MM buyout to his $13MM club option.  According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale back in October, the Giants are one of three clubs Longoria would consider in ’23, which will apparently be his final season.

Walker For Matos Swap In The Works

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As has been rumored for a couple of days now, the Cubs and Orioles are close to swapping Todd Walker and Luis Matos.  According to the Baltimore Sun, the salary difference is the only holdup. 

While the Orioles’ purpose for acquiring Walker is reportedly for use as a DH or bat off the bench, a source of mine says that is not the whole story.  According to the source, Brian Roberts is not where everyone thinks he is health-wise.  He’s been mentioned as perhaps being ready for Opening Day, but that is highly unlikely.  His type of elbow surgery is "largely unknown" according to Will Carroll.

Matos hasn’t been used in right field since 2003.  He’s a right-handed hitter who has batted .236/.302/.353 vs. left-handers over the last three seasons.  In other words, not the ideal platoon partner for Jacque Jones.  I’m guessing the Cubs would carry he and Marquis Grissom as backup outfielders and attempt to find at-bats for Matos in left field.

The Cubs and Orioles have an amicable relationship, having worked out deals for Corey Patterson and Sammy Sosa in the recent past.  In addition, the teams have talked extensively about Miguel Tejada.

A .290 Spring Training batting average has the Orioles thinking Patterson will make a capable regular for them in center field.  While it’s worth a shot, Patterson should again have a hard time topping a .310 OBP.

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